There are so many different species of birds found all around the globe. For our list of birds that begin with Y, we picked just a few examples from 17 species. When it comes to bird names, Y is a less popular letter in the alphabet, hence our list includes several birds that are named after the color yellow or for a geographical region.
17 BIRDS THAT START WITH Y
The names of 17 bird species begin with the letter Y. Let’s have a look at these fascinating, amazing, and magnificent birds!
1.YELLOW WARBLER
Scientific name: Setophaga petechia
The yellow warbler is a brightly colored bird with a yellow belly. Their shoulders and head are lighter, whereas their rear is darker, olive yellow in coloration. Males have a reddish-brown streaking on their chest. In the winter, yellow warblers migrate to Central America and northern South America, where they breed in the spring.
They only eat insects and live in thickets and little trees near wetlands or streams. These birds have been seen getting wrapped up in the web of orb weaver spiders, which are so tiny and light. They are, however, capable of flying nonstop across the Gulf of Mexico.
2.YUCATAN WOODPECKER
Scientific name: Melanerpes pygmaeus
This woodpecker can be found across Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula and is also known as the red-vented woodpecker. With a light head and chest, their back and wings have thick black and white stripes. Males have a deeper red head than females, and both sexes have yellow above their beaks. Males and females both have a reddish head at the back.
Most wooded areas and beach scrub are favorite habitats for these woodpeckers. They search for insects in trees and bark, as do other woodpeckers, but they will also eat fruit.
3.YELLOW BILLED LOON
Scientific name: Gavia adamsii
The High Arctic, as well as Alaska, western Canada, and northern Europe, are all home to yellow-billed loons. Their bill is a pale yellow with a straight upper edge and a downward curving lower edge, similar to the common loon’s black and white body plumage.
They are an international species of concern because their population has dwindling. They are among the top 10 rarest birds to breed on the mainland United States, according to the national park service. In Alaska, around a quarter of the population breeds. They have quick access to the water where they live, because their nests are in low vegetation just near the waters’ edge. Loon swimmers and divers are incredible, but they can’t walk on land.
4.YUNGAS PYGMY OWL
Scientific name: Glaucidium bolivianum
From Peru to northern Argentina, the Yungas pygmy owl may be found in the Andes mountains. They prefer thick undergrowth and moss in highland and cloud forest habitats. During the day, dusk, and night, these owls are active.
Insects, arthropods, and even tiny birds are foraged on through thick foliage. Brown, rufous, and a more uncommon gray plumage color variations exist. A pair of black feathers surrounded by white look like eyes from a short distance away on the nape of their neck, which they have a pair of “false eyes.”
5.YELLOW BELLIED SAPSUCKER
Scientific name: Sphyrapicus varius
The yellow-bellied sapsucker is famed for boring patterns of holes in the bark of trees to produce sapwells, which it may consume from. They have red cap with black and white stripes on their stocky, speckled body. They have hints of yellow on their body. A crimson throat patch distinguishes males from females.
They have been seen boring sap-wells in over 1,000 species of trees and woody plants, despite having a preference for birch and maple trees. Breeding season for these sapsuckers is in the north. Then go to Canada for the winter, followed by a trip through the southeastern United States, Mexico, and Central America.
6.YUCATAN FLYCATCHER
Scientific name: Myiarchus yucatanensis
The Yucatan flycatcher has a brownish-gray head and back, gray neck, and yellow belly in typical flycatcher fashion. They may expand or lay flat a little crest at the crown of their head. These flycatchers may be found across the Yucatan Peninsula, as well as Belize and Guatemala, according to their name. Apart from capturing insects, these birds eat fruit from trees like the gumbo limbo, and can be found in tropical woodland.
7.YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER
Scientific name: Setophaga coronata
The yellow-rumped warbler migrates north in the spring to breed after spending the winter in Central America and up through southern United States. Depending on its location, the yellow-rumped warbler’s color pattern may change.
The Audubon variety, which has brilliant yellow on the neck, rump, and flanks, is most likely to be seen in the west. A little yellow may be seen on top of their head. The Myrtle variety is most likely to be seen in the east. Males have a black mask, white eyebrow, and brilliant yellow on top of the head, sides, and above the tail. They are striped black and gray with a black mask.
The colors of females are similar to those of males, although they may seem duller and the markings may be less visible. Their colors will be brightest and most vivid in the spring, and they’ll fade significantly during the winter, as they do with other warblers.
8.YELKOUAN SHEARWATER
Scientific name: Puffinus yelkouan
The Mediterranean Yelkouan shearwaters breed on islands and cliffs, then spend the winter at sea. They tilt from side to side, almost touching the water, with their wings held extremely stiff with few flaps.
They eat mostly seafood and mollusks and will occasionally follow fishing ships for leftover food tossed overboard. Human development near their breeding sites, as well as an increase in rats and feral cats that can prey on eggs and young birds, put some of their populations at risk.
9.YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO
Scientific name: Coccyzus americanus
Yellow-billed cuckoos migrate through Central America during the winter, breeding east of the Andes in the eastern United States and Caribbean. Brown upperparts and white underparts characterize these long, slender birds. They have a yellow and black beak, rust on their wings, and large white patches on their tail that are visible from below.
They dwell in deciduous woodlands, where they quietly stalk caterpillars among the trees. The nesting period of this kind of cuckoo is exceptionally brief, with a fledgling ready to leave the nest able to emerge in as little as 17 days after its egg has been laid.
10.YELLOW-EYED JUNCO
Scientific name: Junco phaeonotus
The body of these juncos is gray, with a brown back and wings and a bright yellow-orange eye. They are mostly found in Mexico’s and Guatemala’s mountain forests, although they may be found in Arizona and New Mexico’s highlands. Due to their brilliant eyes, Native people from Mexico referred to them as “lightning bird” or “caster of fire.” They thought the birds could store light and then release it at night.
11.YUCATAN JAY
Scientific name: Cyanocorax yucatanicus
These jays feature yellow legs, a black head, and bright electric blue back, wings, and tail. They are native to the Yucatan Peninsula and have a distinctive plumage. Even after the remainder of their adult plumage has arrived, juveniles have a yellow beak, and it will stay that way for several months.
Yucatan jays are sociable birds that may squawk loudly when they’re in a group. Within their range, they are thought to be frequent, and thus far they have shown little signs of being harmed by human activities in the environment.
12.YELLOW CROWNED NIGHT HERON
Scientific name: Nyctanassa violacea
These special herons may be found from the east coast of the United States through the Caribbean and into Central and South America’s coastal zones. Their name may lead you to believe they are nocturnal, when in reality they forage for food at any time of day or night.
They prefer to hunt on the beach between three hours before high tide and three hours after, regardless of when it occurs in coastal regions. Their name comes from a yellowish plume of feathers that runs across the top of their head. Their favorite food is crustaceans like crabs and crayfish, which they capture by slowly stalking in shallow water.
13.YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD
Scientific name: Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus
The boldly colored yellow-headed blackbird is difficult to mistake. The male has a black body with a brilliant yellow head and chest. The female has yellow and brown mottling on her head, whereas the male is black. Wet places such as grassland wetlands, meadows, marshes, and shallow ponds are favorite haunts of these blackbirds.
They’ll forage for seeds and insects in nearby grasslands, savanna, and cropland after nesting in wetland reeds and cattails. Nestlings fall out and must swim to nearby vegetation when nests are always built right overhanging water.
14.YUNNAN FULVETTA
Scientific name: Alcippe fratercula
These little birds feature a white eye ring, gray head, olive-yellow body, and a lengthy black stripe that extends from the beak to the nape of the neck. Southern China, Burma, and northern Indochina are home to them, as well as tropical and subtropical woods. The dominant bird in most mixed flocks, they are well-known for their boisterousness and conspicuousness.
15.YELLOW-HEADED PARROT
Scientific name: Amazona oratrix
The brilliant yellow head and crimson shoulders of this parrot set it apart. Yellow-heads are relatively quiet when they fly, unlike most parrots. They make human-sounding cries when they’re loud.
The yellow-headed parrot is a Mexican and Central American species that is rapidly declining. Any wild-caught birds are prohibited from entering the country, and most of the world’s birds are regulated by control in their breeding. They are listed on CITES Appendix I.
In southern Florida, tiny populations breed, although they are dwindling.
16.YUNNAN NUTHATCH
Scientific name: Sitta yunnanensis
With a gray back, white underparts, and a thick black eye stripe, this little nuthatch looks a lot like other nuthatches. Yunnan, Sichuan, and Guizhou prefectures in southwest China are home to these creatures. They are known to be noisy, making repeated nasal cries, while they don’t “sing songs.” They’ve been seen eating insects they catch on pine branches, so the entire breadth of their diet is unclear.
17.YELLOW-CHEVRONED PARAKEET
Scientific name: Brotogeris chiriri
With a light pink beak and yellow corner along the wing, the yellow-chevroned parakeet is a mostly green bird. Until 1997, when they were thought to be the same species, this species and the white-winged parakeet were closely related. It feeds on seeds and fruit in its native range of tropical Brazil to Paraguay. Yet, nectar-eating feral populations have evolved in Miami, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. If they’re out, they’ll also stop by feeders!